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A muscle in his jaw tensed. "You're willing to die for him?"
She leaned into the gun, daring him to pull the trigger. "You couldn't shoot a woman, Killian. It's not in your character. Not after what happened to Emily."
The color drained from his face. The gun in his hand trembled against her flesh. "How do you know about Emily?"
"I wrote it."
They stared at each other in silence, both breathing hard. She waited for him to say something. Behind them, the sounds of Joe's horse struggling up the hill intensified, filled the clearing with grunting, pounding noise.
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Slowly he withdrew the gun from her chest and eased it back into the holster.
Lainie grinned. "See, I told?"
He reached out and grabbed her sweater, yanking her toward him. She stumbled forward and slammed into his chest. Her head snapped back.
She blinked up at him in surprise, felt the ragged strains of his breath against her lips. His face lowered toward hers.
An icicle of fear slid down her back. She tried to shrink away from him. He held her fast.
For one terrifying, debilitating moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. Memories surged up from her past, filled her with icy terror. Oh, God, oh, Jesus . .. no ...
But he didn't. He brought her close, so close she could see herself in the dark pools of his eyes. "Maybe I won't kill you." He said the words softly, but they seemed to reverberate through forever. "But it doesn't mean I won't hurt you. It doesn't mean I won't let someone else hurt you. Now, get on that horse or I'll throw you over the saddle like a sack of salt and tie you down."
Lainie gasped, tried to draw back. "Y-You wouldn't."
"Get on the goddamn horse, lady. Now."
He loosened his hold and she stumbled backward, clutching the sweater to her breasts. Breathing hard, she staggered back to her horse and climbed into the saddle. When Killian was mounted he turned back to her. "If you lag behind, I swear to God, I'll strip every piece of clothing from your body and let you ride into the hideout stark naked."
Her eyes rounded. "But the men?"
"Yeah ... the men."
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She swallowed again, wet her parched lips. "I'll keep up."
For the first time in hours, he smiled. "I bet you will."
Killian turned back in his saddle and spurred the black. All three horses moved at once, surging into a thundering gallop across the purple- and pink-stained desert.
Lainie squeezed her eyes shut and clung to the saddle horn. She told herself it didn't matter that she'd given in, that she'd been afraid?just for a second?of being tied up again. Joe would still find her, still rescue her.
Besides, it was just a dream, just a stupid pointless dream.
But it didn't feel like a dream.
She concentrated on breathing evenly, listening to the gentle ebb and flow of sound, blocking out everything until she was calmed. The strength she needed was there, inside her, as it always was, as it always had been. She reached for it, clung to it, let it warm the cold places in her heart. This was just a dream, and sooner or later it would end. He couldn't hurt her.
She could survive it, as she'd survived so many other things. She'd given up her courage once, long ago, and she'd never do that again. Never.
Long into the night, they raced on. After about an hour, darkness cloaked the valley, spilling at first over the canyon walls, then puddling, thick and invincible, on the desert floor. They galloped on, heedless of the darkness, hooves pounding on the hard-packed dirt. Lainie clung to the saddle horn with sore, shaking fingers,
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her eyes squeezed shut, her heart slamming in her chest.
